Choosing Plants by Sun Requirements

If your garden is in a sunny place with no shade throughout the day, then getting a sun-loving plant is an absolute must. Some places will have shade at various times of the day, due to shadows that are created by the sun's movement. I watched a BBC program about decorating your patio with plants, and it featured a huge potted tree and a small folding chair on the patio. The man on the show was explaining the placement of the tree for maximum shade, and each time he would change the time of day that you wanted shade, he would grunt and groan and move the huge tree. I kept yelling at the television, "Move the chair, idiot! It's easier." He never once listened.

You don't have the option of moving plants on an hourly basis unless they are in containers and you have a huge amount of time on your hands. Try to get ones that are suited to the type of sun they receive. Take one day to periodically check for shade in the area that you wish to plant. Have a diagram of your yard handy, and just make notes about every 3 hours. Partial shade will have slightly over half the day in the shade. Partial sun, of course will have the reverse. A sunny location gets sun almost all day, if not all day and the same is true of shady. Dense shade gets absolutely no sun throughout the day.

Some perennials that like the sun are Alyssum, Ajuga, Baby's Breath, Baby's Blanket, Asters, Bee Balm (I love this plant), Carnations (This one, too!), Balloon Flowers, Bellflowers, Black-eyed Susan, Butterfly Plant, Campion, Purple Coneflower, Columbine, Coreopsis, Daisy, Daylily, Delphinium, Dianthus, Feverfew, Hollyhock, Gerbera, Hibiscus, Iris (There are several varieties. Some like dry feet and some thrive in moisture. Shop carefully.), Lavender, Lupine (Another personal favorite.), Maltese Cross, Obedient Plant (These are really cool, oops the 70's just shot out of my mouth.), Prickly Pear Cactus (These can tolerate cold weather. They are hardy in my garden in Northern Indiana.), Red Hot Poker, Russian Sage, Stokes Aster, Sweet Pea, Sweet William, Pansies (really a biennial), Yarrow, Yucca, and Sedum.

Somewhere in that list there are plants that also will tolerate the shade. I have used Sedum and Yucca in shade areas. The sedum does well but the Yucca has never bloomed and it curses me as I pass it for placing it there.

You will find that many catalogues list some plants as perennials that really aren't. Pansies for instance are biennials, but after the second year, you figure you killed them. Some are just prolific in their seed scattering ability and will come up year after year but be new plants.

Don't forget to intersperse grasses and foliage for your garden. Blue Fescue truly is blue and a great addition to the garden. Zebra grass and Pampas grass add pizzazz and can be dramatic backdrops for the flowers.

It is a little more difficult to find flowering shade plants. The Hosta is the first to come to mind. Their foliage is worth having even if they didn't bloom but the stalk of flowers in the late summer is awesome. Their little leaves get sun burned and turn yellow if planted in too much sun. I know that because amongst the Hostas I'm known as the killer. I tried a spot that had sun, I didn't think it was that much, but the poor little fellows croaked. Thank goodness they reproduce well in the shade. I still had many more, even if I did feel a little guilty.

Some shade loving perennials are Astilbe, Bergenia (Beautiful chocolate leaves on the red ones.), Hostas, Bleeding hearts, Forget-me-nots, Ladies Mantle, Poker Primrose, and my personal all time favorite the Hardy Primrose. Be aware that common names are often confused. There is a sun loving Primrose. It has pink flowers. The shade loving is not a relative but is Primula. They bloom in the spring and have bright colorful flowers that are sure to bring you out of the winter slump. You can also plant most spring blooming bulbs in a shady area, if the shade is from tree foliage. They bloom and are gone before the tree has leaves. We have masses of daffodils that have decided that they love our shady spots and moved themselves there. I've tried to force some of the paper white's bulbs for Christmas gifts, and I need to tell you. When brought into the house they stink. It was another bitter disappointment to me.

There are a lot of foliage plants for shady areas. Lamium, Blue Sedge, Black Mondo grass, Silver Grass, ferns, and Japanese Sweet flag. This by all means is not meant to be an all-inclusive list, just a starting point for your gardening adventure.